First beaver dam in England for hundreds of years

Beaver at Escot. Courtesy of Ben Lee Photo Imagery.

A pair of European beavers were brought to Devon from Germany in 2006. They live at Escot Park in a 2 acre enclosure which contains ponds, woodland and a section of stream.

They set up home in the bank of one of the ponds & they have a maternity lodge so it is hoped that young beavers will emerge in summer 2008 to establish a family colony. Recently they have built what is probably the first beaver dam in the south west for 800 years!

Visit the beavers at Escot Park
It is possible to make evening visits to the beavers at Escot, please click here for more details.

European beavers - Extinct in the UK
Beavers (castor fiber) were hunted to extinction in Britain some 400 years ago. Formally widespread throughout much of Europe, by the end of the 19th century over-hunting had reduced the number of beavers to around 1200 animals in 8 isolated populations. Effective protection of these remnants since the 1920s & widespread reintroductions meant that in 2003 numbers were estimated to have recovered to a minimum of 613,000 individuals. Free-living populations are now established in most European countries within the beaver's natural range, excluding Britain, Portugal, Italy & the southern Balkans. With preferred habitats ranging from wilderness areas to intensively managed landscapes with dense human populations, if current trends continue, within a few decades ‘Castor fiber' will have become a fairly common mammal in much of Europe.

Beaver at Escot. Courtesy of Ben Lee Photo Imagery.

Hunted for their fur & glands
Sought after for their soft, thick & waterproof fur, which was the height of fashion, the animals were also in huge demand for a secretion called castoreum which is produced in a gland beneath their tail. Valued for its alleged medicinal properties, the substance contains an active ingredient of aspirin, which is a product of the beaver's liking of willow bark. Very recently ‘castoreum essential oil' was spotted for sale on eBay, on the internet - "exotic real animal fragrance. Pheromone of the beaver. You are bidding on a 16oz bottle of 100% pure essential oil, perfect for aromatherapy, candle or soap making: US$160".

One of the world's largest rodents
With its body length reaching in excess of a meter, the European beaver is one of the world's largest rodents. They are monogamous & the females are dominant. Beavers have stocky bodies & may weigh up to 70lbs (32Kg). They have a flattened, hairless tail known as a scoop. They have webbed feet & can use both forelegs as hands.

Beaver diet
Beavers are strictly herbivorous. They do not eat fish! Their diet consists of many species of water & riverbank plants, tubers & roots. Beavers also eat bark. In winter when lush vegetation is more scarce, they will eat willow, aspen, hazel & other soft barked trees within 20m of their watercourse. Generally nocturnal, in one night a beaver is able to cut down a tree with a diameter of 16".

Beaver dam at Escot. Courtesy of Ben Lee Photo Imagery

Breeding season
Beavers have a single annual breeding season, with an average litter of 3 kits born between April & June & weaned three months later. Young often have a hard time adjusting from drinking their mother's milk to eating bark, & many do not survive this period. If they do survive they will encounter few natural threats for the remainder of their lives & may live 10 - 17 years in the wild. Beavers are social animals, living in family colonies of 5-8 individuals. They mark their territory by making scent mounds with secretions of castorium oil. The oil is also used to waterproof their fur coat. A beaver usually stays under water for 2-3 minutes but can dive for as long as 15 minutes. They communicate using scent, posture, a variety whistling & whining calls, & tail slaps, which are also used to warn others of danger.

Why beavers build dams
Beavers build dams only if they feel vulnerable. Instinctively they prefer to enter their lodges from under water (to escape wolves & bears!), & if the water is not deep enough to do so they create a dam. These dams on a river system increase habitat & biodiversity, reduce silt loss to the estuaries, & reduce flooding. Pioneer beavers search out broad, slow-flowing stretches of rivers, marshes or lakes with a good supply of grasses, herbs & water plants for the summer, & bushy trees such as willow scrub for winter feeding. In these habitats dam building is unnecessary.

Photos
Photos courtesy of Ben Lee Photo Imagery; For further information about Ben Lee Photo Imagery, call 07740 984089 or email bkl@benleephoto-imagery.co.uk.